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Service Model

By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
Narrated by: Adrian Tchaikovsky
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Publisher's summary

This program is read by Hugo Award-winning author Adrian Tchaikovsky.

Murderbot meets Redshirts in a delightfully humorous tale of robotic murder from the Hugo-nominated author of Elder Race and Children of Time.

To fix the world they must first break it, further.

Humanity is a dying breed, utterly reliant on artificial labor and service.

When a domesticated robot gets a nasty little idea downloaded into its core programming, they murder their owner. The robot discovers they can also do something else they never did before: They can run away.

Fleeing the household they enter a wider world they never knew existed, where the age-old hierarchy of humans at the top is disintegrating into ruins and an entire robot ecosystem devoted to human wellbeing is having to find a new purpose.

Sometimes all it takes is a nudge to overcome the limits of your programming.

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor.com.

©2024 Adrian Tchaikovsky (P)2024 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“With humor, heart, and hope balancing out the decay, this glimpse of the future is sure to win fans.”—Publishers Weekly

What listeners say about Service Model

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Another banger from Tchaikovsky

Adrian Tchaikovsky is one of the best sci-fi writers in the business today. Every one of his books is utterly unique, promising you won't ever get the same experience twice. Service Model might be written off as a light hearted sci-fi romp, and it is, but where it differs from other recent light hearted tales *cough* Starter Villain *cough* is that it actually has quite a lot to say. I found myself laughing just as much as I found myself saying, "huh..." in a hand-to-chin contemplative manner. Is the book preaching about the evils of modern society? Maybe...? Is it poking fun at the current political and socioeconomic issues that currently divide society? Also maybe. At its core, is it a funny and ridiculous snd sometines sad tale about a robot trying to find his place in the wasteland of a fallen civilization? Definitely.
The science fiction may not be as engrossing as his Children series, and the humor may not reach quite the riotous level of laughter (for me anyway) of his Tyrant Philosopher series, but this is a worthy notch in the belt of a great story teller.
4/5

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4 people found this helpful

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Quirky

An especially insightful story. Narration by the author was excellent. I imagine he was able to make the characters' voices match what he heard in his own mind.

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1 person found this helpful

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Fun story, great audio book

Read by the author... I'm always skeptical, but after reading, I'm honestly impressed. It's clear Adrien has talent for this, and I quickly forgot I was listening to the author as the characters came to life. I loved the concept, the characters, the real feel of the world in this post apocalyptic sci Fi story. It's story doesn't find some perfect clean conclusion or anything, but I think that's ok, it was fun.

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Great pace and story

I really appreciate this book. The pace was quick and the narration was high quality. I love the writing of this author as well. I love the perspective this book provides in a time of so much change.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Takes a bit to get going but worth it

I almost quit at the beginning because it’s a bit repetitive and slow but the story picks up.

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  • Overall
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    5 out of 5 stars

A fascinating exploration of exploitation through the innocent lens of a robot.

In a much more light hearted vein than The Handmaid's Tale, Service Model asks what happens when you turn the worst of what's happening now to 11?
If we don't care about each other, if we lock ourselves away and horde when we should give, if we treat our humans like robots, how can we expect justice to serve us?

Uncharles is an excellent protagonist and the reading really brought him to life in all his paradoxical glory. I loved every minute

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instant classic

Feels like something written during the 60s or 70s in the best way possible. Doesn't cover new topics, but it does examine AI, robotics, sci-fi tropes in an entirely new perspective. Tchaikovsky keeps the memorable hits consistently, fantastic narration by him as well

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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profoundly meaningful

well written and performed by author
highly recommend for it's world building expanse and
phycology of characters displays inside for societal decisions

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Clever and entertaining!

I honestly had no idea what I was getting into when I started this. The characters are endearing, dialogue both sad and hilarious. I love the authors command of language and turn of phrase. Perfect narration. definitely recommend.

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    4 out of 5 stars

The Valet did it!

Service Model is an interesting and strangely beautiful dystopian Robot meets girl story, set in an apocalypse caused by bad goal setting. it's sometimes funny and mostly a little sad. More hopeful than most his work though

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